Seat support



Sept. 13, 1938. w. s. SAUNDERS ET AL 2,130,159

.SEAT SUPPORT Filed NOV. 9, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS T WALTER S 5AU N DE R S THOMASA GREG R I C Y ,n'r'olm P 1938. w. s. SAUNDERS ET AL2,130,159

SEAT SUPPORT Filed Nov. 9, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS WALTER S.SAUNDERS Patented Sept. 13, 1938 SEAT SORT Walter S. Saunders andlllionias A. McQregor, Pontiac, Mic-hi, assigriors to American Forging &Socket (Comp, llontiac, Mich, a corporation of Michigan ApplicationNovember 9, 1 .936, erlal No. M59358 This invention relates toimprovements in the construction of adjustable supports, such as areemployed to support vehicle seats and the like. The primary aim of theinvention may be summarized as being to provide improved and. simplifiedmeans whereby such a seat may be rigidly held in any one of a pluralityof positions, and quickly and easily moved from one to another oi suchpositions.

An important object of the invention also re= sides in the provision inconjunction with a pair of such supporting assemblies, one adapted to beused under each end of a seat, of cross connecting means constructed andinstalled in an improved manner to force the two supporting assembliesand so both ends of the seatto move in unison.

Another important object resides in the provision of simplifiedsupporting means of the character indicated, such supporting meanscomprising a plurality of unitary assemblies each incorporating asupporting track element and a carriage element. such elements being ofextremely simple and rigid construction and slidably interconnected byanti-friction means serving also to prevent separation thereof and tolimit the travel of one with relationto the other, said anti-frictionmeans being journaled upon axes fixed with relation to one element androllable with relation to the other.

Further objects include the provision of improved means for insuringuniform and parallel movement or a plurality of such assemblies arrangedin spaced relation beneath a seat to support the same, and for sointerconnecting said assemblies that they may be separately shipped andinstalled.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent irom the followingdescription wherein reference is made to the accompanying drawingsillustrating the preferred embodiments of our invention and whereinsimilar reference numeralsdesighate similar parts throughout the severalviews.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a side elevational view or" a seat supporting assemblyincorporating the principles of this invention, diagrammaticallyindicating a seat carried thereby.

Figure 2 is a plan view thereof, with the cross shaft partly brokenaway.

Figure 3- is a front elevational view of one of said supportingassemblies, iragrnentarily show ing a detail of the locking mechanism.

Figures 4' and 5 are detailed cross sections taken substantially onlines l-t and 5-5 respec- (hi. 155 m) 'tively of Figure l. and lookingin the direction or the arrows.

Figure 6 is a detailed cross-section taken substantiallypn the line t-tof Figure 3, and looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 'l is a view similar to Figure 1 of a some what modifiedconstruction.

Figure 8 is a top view of such modified as semlcly.

Figure 9 is a front elevational view similar to Figure 3.

Figures it and ii are cross sections taken sunstantially on the linesit-it and il-li of Figure 8 and looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 12 is a detailed cross section taken suhstantially on the line12-412 of Figure 9 and looking in the direction of the arrows.

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Referring now to the drawings, reference character l5 designates avehicle floor, upon which, it is assumed for illustrative purposes aseat ii is desired to he adjustably supported. To the bottom of theseat, one near each end thereof, are

rigidly secured a pair of carriage members as 2t =2dlh These are ofsimilar but oppositely I 2, only one carriage (as it) need he providdwith locking mechanism. A track member 68 is provided for each carriage,the track members being shaped to conform to the configuration oi? thefloor, which in the illustrative instance is higher at the front thantheta/sir. Each such. traclr member incorporates a base flange securedto the floor by carriage bolts 59, and an upright web carrying near itsfront and rear extremities rollers, as 2 l-22, the rollers journaledupon fixed pins comprising heavy shouldered rivets it, with interposedanti iriction means in the form oi needle bearings 26.

The carriage member is also of angular form, with one web fastened tothe bottom of the seat, and a downwardly extending web which overlapsand outlies the track element to which it is adia- 7 cent, and isprovided with slots as lit-32 engaging the rollers 28-22, to reliablysupport the carriage and seat. The rollers are preferably grooved tohold the track and carriage members against the lateral displacement. Toenable insertion of the rollers, one end of each slot is enlarged, as at533.

By disposing the slots-ili--32 in angular rela tion to each other, inthe manner shown in Figure 1, the seat 'may be made to tilt farther for=wardly as it is moved to the front, and vice versa. In the top of thetrack member a plurality of slots 35 are'cut. With these a locking dogcarried by'the carriage is engageable to hold the seat in position,while by rocking the dog to disengage it from the slots, the seatbecomes readily slidable to a new position. The dog is rockably mountedupon the pivot pin carried by the face of the carriage, the dog beingformed as a bellerank having an operating nose portion 31 bent to extendthrough an arcuate slot 38 in the carriage, to such position that it maybe swung into and out of engagement with the slots35 in the top of thetrack as previously described, while an operating link 40 is articulatedto the other arm of the bell crank and comprises a relatively still?wire, the other end of which is connected to an operating lever 42'. Theoperating lever is secured to and swingable with the handle shaft 44 andis rockable by means of the handle shaft 45, constituting an extensionof such shaft.

The handle shaft is mounted in an inverted U bracket 41, having one webwelded or otherwise secured to the outer surface of the carriage 20.Apertures for rotatably supporting the shaft are formed in both legs ofthe U-bracket, and an inwardly projecting boss as 48 may be pressed inthe web attached to the carriage, to provide a better bearing for theinner end of shaft 44.

Such inner end of the shaft is flattened to receive the lever 42, formedof sheet metal and held thereupon by shaping the aperture therein toconform to the flattened portion of the shaft upon which it is mounted.A spring 58 is coiled about the shaft inside the bracket and acts intorsion upon the handle shaft and upon the dog 25 through lever 42, tourge the dog toward locked position, from which it may be freed byraising the handle.

'Where a pair of such supporting assemblies are used, one beneath eachend of the seat, they may be connected to insme their unitary movementby means of a cross-shaft as 38 having one end iournaied in each track,asbest shown in Figure i, and carrying a gear as fast upon each end andmeshing with rack teeth formed upon the carriage, as by punching thereinat suit able intervals a series of holes as with which the gear meshes.Force exerted upon the seat near either end when it is desired to slidethe same, causes both gears to turn and so both carriages to travel as aunit. The rack apertures may, as shown, he punched directly in theflangeof the carriage which also serves to attach it to the under side of theseat.

, As shown in Figures 3 and 6, the handle shaft M is locked in itssupporting bracket at? by integral tonnes as pressed out of andprojecting from the surface of the shaft and one located upon eitherside of the outer web of the bracket. Both tongues are formed upon theshaft before insertion of the shaft, and a slot 57 forming a lateralextension of the aperture in the bracket provides clearance forinsertion of the tongue.

Slot 51 is located in such position that in the normal rocking movementof the shaft, the tongues cannot become'aligned therewith, so thatescape of the shaft after its installation by rerealignment of the innertongue with the slot is not possible. Movement of the shaft to suchextent as to re-align the tongue and slot is pre-.

vented by the operating parts after the link 40 is installed, since theslot 38 is of insuflicient length to allow movement to this extent. V

The modification shown in Figures 7 to 12 inelusive, in which partsanalogous to those previously described have been given like referencecharacters distinguished by the addition of the letter B, the gears 523which insure alignment of the carriages are journaled in a bracketattached to the inside of each track element IIB, the cross shaft 503being installable by merely inserting the same in the hub of thesegears, into which it loosely fits. The hubs are slotted and project fromthebracket 60 sufficiently to be enengageable by key portions formed asintegral tongues struck up from the surface of the shaft for engagementwith such slots. As indicated in Figure 10, the cross shaft 503 is inthis construction arranged in a'lower position, and a special rack plate53B secured to the carriage and extending downwardly in alignment withthe gear shipped separately and in a most compact manner.

I What we claim is:

1. Means for slidably supporting a seat or the like comprising anupstanding sheet metal track element, a sheet metal carriage elementmovably carried by and extending beside the track element, a' guide rackportion secured to said carriage element and projecting substantiallyparallel thereto'upon the opposite side of the track element, and meansiorcontrolling movement of the carriage including a shaft journaled inthe track element, a gear rotatable with the shaft and meshing with therack portion, and means carried by the track element additionallysupporting said gear and overlying said guide rack portion to preventdisalignment of the rack and gear,

2. Means for slidably supporting seat or the like comprising a trackelement having an upstanding web, a carriage element rollably supportedupon the track element and having a downwardly extending web overlappingthe track Web, anti-friction rollers carried by one of said webs andengaging slots formed in the other to rollahly support the carriage andlimit travel thereof, said track having notches along the top portionthereof, a dog carried by the carriage and having a portion movable intoand out of engagement with any of said notches to releasably hold thecarriage element with respect to the track element, and operating meansforsaid dog comprising an operatingv shaft carried by and near one endof the carriage element and rockable about an axis transverse to thepath of travel of said element, and link means connecting said dog andoperating shaft.

3. Means for supporting a seat or the like, as

set forth in claim .2, in which said operating shaft is rockable througha relatively short are to operate said dog, and mounting means for saidoperating shaft including a bracket portion and inter-engaging holdingportions carried partly by said shaft and partly by said bracketportion, said portions being engageable and disengageable when saidshaft is turned to an angularposition outside its normal angular path ofoperative movement, said dog and link means restraining said shaftagainst rotation beyond its usuai path of rotstive movement and soprevent.- ing disengagement of said holding portions.

e. Means as set forth in claim 2 in which said operating shsit isroekable through a relatively short arc to operate said dog, andmounting means for said operating shaft comprising a U- brscket havingone leg secured to and extending from the side of the carriage element,said shaft extending through both legs of said bracket and into thecarriage element, and spring means and an operating lever connected tosaid shaft and housed within said bracket.

Y WALTER 8. BA.

THOMAS A. McG 1111i;

